There’s some good reasons people getting set to retire pick up and move to Florida. They’re looking to get the most bang for their buck, now that they will be on a fixed income and most of their high earning days are over. At that point, the thing that becomes more important is the quality of life based on what they have stored away for retirement in various investment accounts. That quality of life can be severely impacted by simple things like taxes, cost of living, and even energy bills. (more…)

Even with the stomach-churning twists and turns of 2008 and 2009, most people who continued contributing have recovered their original portfolio value. However, the stock market drop has made it obvious that as a vehicle for retirement, certain safeguards need to be put in place. For one, it’s important to understand your 401K investment strategy based on your age. Two, a 401K should not be the only way to invest your funds for retirement. Finally, 401Ks need to be managed by someone who understands the market, as the risks increase with a laissez-faire attitude. (more…)

While it can be quite easy to grow accustomed to a certain lifestyle when our weekly salary can help cover it, many don’t give a second thought to how they will maintain their current lifestyle once it comes time to retire. Even something as simple as going out to dinner every night can put a crimp in the budget of someone who is now on a fixed income. Once you retire, you do not have the luxury of extra hours to fall back on in order to generate extra cash to cover your monthly expenses. Once retirement age arrives, many choose to continue working in order to maintain the lifestyle they have grown accustomed to, or they choose to make drastic lifestyle changes in order to make their retirement money last longer. While these are the most common options, they should not be the only ones you have to choose from. Here are some ways to save enough money for retirement so you can still enjoy the lifestyle you have grown accustomed to. (more…)

The thought of retirement should be filled with excitement as you enter your golden years. But with recent stock market issues and economic downturns, we worry if we have enough money to live on when we eventually retire, as we will not want to have to take cash advances during this period. One of the biggest retirement fears is that we may outlive our money. Now that things have changed in the economic environment, it is time to also change our retirement planning to adjust for what has happened. There are a few ways to help us save for our retirement to alleviate any concerns about outliving our income. (more…)

Of all the age groups affected by the recession, the baby boomers who are retiring face the harshest consequences. They have retirement portfolios that might have dropped anywhere from 20 to 40%. They don’t have extra years of income to make up the drop, unless they choose to stay working in part time jobs past their full retirement age. Health care costs are high. If that weren’t enough, the federal government has made it clear that there will probably be no cost of living increase in Social Security for the next two to three years. What are steps that need to be taken to make sure you won’t run out of money in your old age? (more…)

The thought of retirement should be filled with excitement as you enter your golden years. But with recent stock market issues and economic downturns, we worry if we have enough money to live on when we eventually retire, as we will not want to have to take cash advances during this period. One of the biggest retirement fears is that we may outlive our money. Now that things have changed in the economic environment, it is time to also change our retirement planning to adjust for what has happened. There are a few ways to help us save for our retirement to alleviate any concerns about outliving our income. (more…)

In the current financial climate it is important to have a steady income, lower cost of living and good emergency financial plans in place. This is particularly important for those entering or already living in their retirement years.

Usually the process of arranging an easy and comfortable retirement begins with the living arrangements. A majority of retirees make plans to sell their homes and relocate to a more affordable location. This can often include apartments or retirement communities, but they will still need to be in places that have a lower cost of living. This means that selecting an affordable retirement city or town is the wisest step in planning for the “golden years”. (more…)

No matter how old you are, once you secure your first job you should begin to save for retirement. As you know, the earlier you start the more money you will have when you finally decide to hang it up for good. Compound interest is a great thing, and this is just one reason why you need to get your retirement savings into high gear as early as possible.

The way you save for retirement is up to you. Some people rely solely on one plan, such as a 401K, that they have through their employer. This is a particularly good idea if your company offers a “match” up to a certain percentage. After all, who doesn’t want free money?

Of course, you don’t need the help of your employer in order to save for retirement. You can open your own account, such as a traditional or Roth IRA. Both of these are perfect for those who want to plan their own retirement while also taking advantage of many tax benefits.

Finally, don’t forget that you can also save cash. This may not be the best way to earn interest on your money, but there is nothing wrong with keeping a bit of cash in an online savings or other high yield account. This may not be your primary retirement account, but it can go a long way when everything is said and done.

No matter how old you are or how much money you earn you should be saving for retirement. Are you on the ball? Or have you fallen behind?

photo credit: pfala

As many people have personally experienced, those people who are closest to retirement are one of the groups who have been hardest hit by the economic downturn. That means there are adult children who are particularly worried about the state of their parents’ finances, and are looking for ways to be able to help them out - even though they’re not in great financial shape themselves.

A recent discussion at CNN Money looked at helping out a 50-year-old parent who doesn’t have any retirement savings, but the problem is even greater for adult children with parents approaching their 60s.

Some of the problems involve actually convincing your parent that they need to be serious about saving for retirement - for the double reason of their own financial security and making sure that they don’t later become dependent on your finances. Parents don’t usually like to learn from their children, no matter how old they are, so the advice is to introduce the idea of retirement savings as tactfully as possible and with an information focus - educate them (carefully) about 401(k)s and how they could be saving more. Encouraging a parent to set up automatic deductions from their wages to put into savings is also a useful step. But above all, remember they are your parents and probably the hardest of all to advise.

Unfortunately, it’s probably too late for those who had planned to retire in the next couple of years and have just discovered the retirement savings have been so dramatically reduced that they will now have to work a few years longer - but for the next generation of workers, there are a few things you can do to try to avoid such a scenario. Of course, nobody has a crystal ball to see the economy of the future but The Simple Dollar does have some realistic suggestions on tactics that will help lower the risk of the same thing happening:

• Contribute a bit more than is “theoretically” needed to your retirement plan. Adding an extra 1 or 2% won’t make a big difference to your current lifestyle but the compounding effect will definitely help in retirement.
• Change your investment strategies throughout your life. Investing more aggressively when you are younger is fine; as you approach retirement, change your mix to be more conservative - you no longer have the time to wait for the economic cycle to go back in your favor. Some retirement plans will do this automatically for you if you choose their “target retirement fund” options.
• Don’t put any of your money into an investment that you don’t understand or that seems to risky to you. And don’t be afraid to ask plenty of other people for help and advice.
• Assume that you will also do some part-time work in the early years of your retirement, so there will be some additional income to help you out at the start. This is becoming increasingly common as people are still active and healthy when they reach retirement age.